We sell LÉ Aisling for €110k, now it’s on market for €683k

The Dutch ship broker at the centre of the LÉ Aisling re-sale controversy said he is “testing the market” by seeking €683,000 for the former Irish naval ship he snapped up at public auction for just €110,000 two months ago.

Amid claims the State has lost out financially, the Rotterdam-based Dick van der Kamp told the Irish Examiner that comparisons between the auction price and the $750,000 (€683,000) resale price give a “wrong impression” of the value of the 1980-commissioned former fisheries patrol vessel which was decommissioned last year.

“I was not so happy that all over the internet, the purchase price was advertised as this is giving a wrong impression about the value of the ship as such, but that value still has to be seen and that is what we are trying to test right now,” said Mr van der Kamp.